Browns Defense Is Best We’ve Seen

If Sunday’s win over San Francisco doesn’t convince people that the Cleveland Browns have a good team, we don’t know what will.

We’ve heard people saying Niners’ QB Brock Purdy isn’t a very good QB, but they weren’t saying that the previous game when they walloped Dallas 42-10. Such is the life of a Browns’ fan, even when they are good, they can’t just admit it.

The critics of Kevin Stefanski also are forced to put a sock in it right now. The “too cerebral”, “non-emotional” coach had his football team ready to play a superior opponent without their starting quarterback and All Pro running back, and All Pro guard.

He had a good game plan, stuck to it, and defeating a 5-0 football team, the first time Cleveland defeated an undefeated team with five or more wins since 1969!

We say that knowing the next time the Browns lose a game, it will be entirely the fault of Stefanski. Such is being a football fan in Cleveland.

And we are sure we will hear some people saying perhaps Cleveland doesn’t need Deshaun Watson after all, because they defeated a quality opponent without him.

However, let’s talk about the defense. We are ready to say this is the best defensive unit the Browns have had since we started following the brown and orange in 1965.

Jim Schwartz’ unit has allowed just 1002 yards in their five games, the first time any unit has allowed so few in 50 years. And because of that, the Browns are 3-2 today despite not winning the turnover battle in any of the five games they’ve played to date.

Last season, we wondered (we weren’t alone) why the Browns played so much zone pass defense when they drafted several cornerbacks who exceled in man-to-man coverage during their college careers. This season, we are seeing that was a huge mistake.

To us, that’s the problem with coaches who have a “system”. That “system” is all they know how to teach and coach. Which pretty much is the opposite of what we feel coaching should be, which is looking at the talent at hand and getting the most out of it.

Yes, GM Andrew Berry added a lot of talent on the defensive line, but perhaps that was at Schwartz’ request. We often said in the past it seemed like the plan was if Myles Garrett can’t get to the quarterback, they needed to rely on the zone coverage.

Schwartz didn’t want to depend on just Garrett. He wanted a bunch of players with the ability to get to the passer. Last season, Taven Bryan was second on the team with three sacks. In 2023, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo already has 2.5 and LB Sione Takitaki has two.

Keep in mind that Za’Darius Smith doesn’t have one yet, and Shelby Harris has just a half sack. You know they will get on the board soon.

Opponents are converting just 23.1% of third downs against the Browns’ defense, which is amazing. The next best rate? Atlanta is holding their opponents to just 31.1%.

Also, opponents have ventured into the Cleveland red zone just nine times, also the lowest in the NFL.

Stefanski told his team in the locker room after the game that the Browns need to start stacking wins and he is 100% correct. They have to follow up a great win over San Francisco by going to Indianapolis and beating a rebuilding Colts’ team.

And stop turning the ball over.

The Browns’ World Isn’t Ending Folks

We understand that 24 seasons of pretty much horrible football has made Cleveland Browns’ fans very sensitive. Three winning seasons since 1999 will do that to you.

However, logic seems to have gone out the window concerning this version of the Browns. Not to ignore the entire history of the expansion Browns, but the last three seasons have resulted in a 28-26 record under the Andrew Berry/Kevin Stefanski regime.

While not great, it’s a far cry from the 4-44 record from 2015-17 or the 27-69 mark from 2008-2013. Cleveland football fans have seen plenty of not just bad football, but historically bad football.

They should know better that that’s not the 2023 Cleveland Browns.

First of all, this team has a great defense, and by the end of the year, we might be able to say it is the best defense the Browns have had since we can remember, which dates back to 1965.

They have an excellent pass rush, led by Myles Garrett, who is the best pass rusher the franchise has ever had. And he has a lot of help in Za’Darius Smith, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Shelby Harris, and Dalvin Tomlinson.

They are good and deep. Jim Schwartz’ unit also has an outstanding secondary. Last year, Martin Emerson and Denzel Ward led the team in passes defended with 15 for the entire season. And only Grant Delpit also was in double figures with 10.

This season, Ward already has 5, Emerson 3, and three other players have 2. We understand the Baltimore game was a disappointment but check again. It was really one bad quarter.

Good defense keeps you in every game and gives you a chance to win. And barring injuries, the Cleveland Browns are very good on that side of the football.

Fans are convinced there is something seriously wrong with Deshaun Watson, and maybe there is, but we doubt it. He won’t play tomorrow, but should be back in a week or two, and let’s not forget he is coming off his best game as a Brown.

If he’s out for a longer period, the team is pretty much screwed offensively. But that’s nothing new, we have been saying that since the end of last season. He is the key to making a playoff run.

Look, the Browns handled the situation poorly. Before the Ravens’ game, we are sure they were betting on Watson’s durability and history of pain tolerance. Once he didn’t play that game, they should have been more transparent. Not doing so, opens the organization up for questions about being secretive.

And if he’s back, look at the rest of the schedule. Now, we don’t like to play the “schedule game”, but it would seem to us that after tomorrow’s game, the schedule isn’t overly difficult.

We also know you have to play the game on the field (which we would also say for today) but we see some teams we would classify as terrible remaining: Arizona (sorry, Jon Gannon), Denver, Chicago, and a Jets team without Aaron Rodgers.

Also, we would consider the games against the Rams, Texans, and Colts very winnable, especially if Watson is playing. If they emerge victorious in those contests, that’s nine wins and that makes them a playoff contender.

Again, there are a lot of variables to consider, especially injuries. However, even with a loss tomorrow, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the Cleveland Browns.

Imagine that…the words optimism and Browns in the same sentence.

Guardians Need Pop, But From Good Hitters

When people talk about the Cleveland Guardians’ offense and how to improve it, the conversation usually centers around home runs. The Guards simply don’t hit many, ranking last in the majors, 27 behind the team with the next fewest, the Washington Nationals.

But we feel Cleveland doesn’t need guys who hit home runs, rather they need good hitters who can also hit home runs.

Right now, we would say the Guardians have two of these hitters in Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor. Ramirez hit .282 this season with a .356 on base percentage and also had 65 extra base hits, including 24 home runs.

Naylor batted .308 to rank fifth in the American League in batting average (he would have been third had he had enough at bats) with a .354 OBP and 48 extra base hits.

We mention extra base hits because that is power. Getting double and triples usually result in runs being scored.

And we say that knowing we watched the Guardians hit a lot of leadoff doubles and stranded that hitter at second base. The days of get ’em over and get ’em in are over folks. Although we don’t know why.

The Guardians also need to walk more (and swing less). Cleveland ranks 6th in the major leagues in swinging at pitches, and it may surprise you to know of the seven teams that rank highest in swing rate, five of them have bad or average offenses (White Sox, Rockies, Angels, Royals, and Guardians). Only the Braves and Rays buck that trend.

Teams that swing a lot are vulnerable to good pitching, usually because you are not just swinging at pitches in the strike zone. If you are a regular reader of this site, you know we are very suspicious of hitters with high strikeout and low walk rates.

It’s why we are a bit concerned about Gabriel Arias, who had a 32.8% strikeout rate last season with just an 8.1% walk rate. Yes, he hits the ball hard, but he just doesn’t hit it that often.

Hitters who strikeout a lot and walk a lot are fine. First, walking means they are not making outs. Juan Soto is the prototype for this right now, he fanned 129 times this past season, and actually walked more, drawing a major league leading 132 walks.

We found this interesting. The top five in drawing walks in 2023 hit an average of 39.2 home runs, while the top five in strikeouts hit 29.4 long balls, almost 10 less than the more selective batters.

One player, Kyle Schwarber, ranked in the top five of both categories.

So, while the Guardians need to hit more home runs the ultimate goal would be to find hitters who swing at good pitches and can drive them. We thought that became the organizational philosophy when Ramirez and Francisco Lindor arrived. Find guys who make good contact and teach them to drive the ball.

They’ve done the first part, but the driving the ball hasn’t taken hold yet.

Maybe the next wave of that is George Valera, Kyle Manzardo, and Chase DeLauter.

The Guardians need more pop, but getting hitters who make a bunch of outs while doing it isn’t the answer.

No One Will Know What To Expect With Guards’ New Skipper (Probably).

Likely, the first order of business for the Cleveland Guardians is to find a new manager to replace their all-time leader in wins as a skipper in Terry Francona.

We find it funny seeing some fans trumpeting candidates when the names come out that Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff are interviewing. It has been reported that Giants’ bullpen coach Craig Albernaz and Yankees’ bench coach Carlos Mendoza have had conversations with Cleveland.

And add in the other speculated candidates like Rangers’ bench coach Will Venable, who was with the Guards in spring training a few years ago and went to college with Chernoff, Astros’ bench coach Joe Espada, and current Cleveland third base coach Mike Sarbaugh.

We would guess the Guardians would be interested if Kevin Cash (739-617) with Tampa Bay) or Craig Counsell (707-625 with Milwaukee) came available. The great Peter Gammons speculated last week that Cash would love to manage in Cleveland, and the front office would love to have him.

However, outside of Cash and Counsell, we really don’t know what you are going to get as from any of the men who have never managed at the big-league level. Bench coaches would seem to have good experience, but there is still a big difference between being someone who “suggests” moves rather than making the ultimate decision.

And it’s also different piloting a minor league team where player development is the goal rather than winning games. We would agree though that handling minor league players well should translate to the big leagues.

If you hire guys who have had success at the big-league level, not only do you get that, but they also understand all that goes along with the job in the majors, meaning dealing with the media, and being exposed to players who have been in the game for a while.

We think the ideal candidate is someone who can combine the old school type of managing, with a feel for the game, with analytics. We thought it was insane for John Schneider to remove Jose Berrios from his start against Minnesota in the wild card series because it was scripted, and the numbers said to do it.

If a starting pitcher is doing his job, let him keep doing it until the hitters tell them he is losing effectiveness. We understand sometimes it’s too late to take action, but remember, some people treat analytics as a way to explain why they made a decision that didn’t work.

We don’t want a manager who goes strictly by the numbers, but we don’t want someone who will ignore them either. At this point in baseball though, we doubt you could find a manager described by that second statement.

At the end of the day, what you want is someone who has the trust of the players and has everyone pulling in the same direction. And with the Guardians still being a very young team, the new guy in charge will also need to guide them.

Terry Francona liked to have a veteran around to help with that, be it Jason Giambi, Jose Uribe, or Mike Napoli. And we agree having an experienced player around is important.

The truth is, we really won’t know anything about the new manager (if he has no big-league experience, that is) until the games start for real next spring. And even then, you have to allow a new major league skipper to grow into the job.

Turnovers, Not Coaching Is The Browns’ Problem Right Now.

The knee-jerk reaction for most Browns fans and media alike after a loss is to blame the play calling. And of course, that leads to talking about hiring a new coach.

Kevin Stefanski is no different. Add the losing to his stoic, unemotional demeanor and that he doesn’t scream on the sidelines and grab players by the facemask, and it’s easy to see why football fans in northeast Ohio haven’t embraced the Browns head coach.

Look, we aren’t saying Stefanski is the second coming of Paul Brown or Blanton Collier for that matter. Those two are #1 and #2 on the franchise’s all-time wins list for coaches. But he has won more games than Butch Davis and Romeo Crennel, both of whom have coached more games.

We wish Stefanski would change some things. We would like to see more use of David Njoku in space, and right now, he seems to have fallen in love with his new toy, that being Elijah Moore.

He has tried to make Moore an all purpose offensive threat, but in the first four games of the season, Moore has caught 17 passes for 148 yards, 8.7 per catch, and rushed 7 times for 3 yards, although he lost 20 yards on one attempt in the Baltimore game.

That has led to Donovan Peoples-Jones, who caught 61 throws for 839 yards a year ago, to be virtually ignored so far this year. He’s been targeted just 14 times, catching six passes for 75 yards.

He’s one of only three Browns to average over 10 yards per catch this year, and one of them, Kareem Hunt, has only caught two passes.

From the criticism on sports talk shows and social media, you would think the Browns were 0-4 and headed toward the first overall pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.

Instead, they are 2-2 despite losing the turnover battle in each game they’ve played this season. And as GM Andrew Berry said in his press conference last week, that’s a difficult way to win games in the NFL.

We said before the season started that despite the endless debate on the team all year in the area, the fortunes of the Cleveland Browns depended on the play of Deshaun Watson, who the organization dealt three first round draft picks and paid a king’s ransom in salary for.

If he plays well, the Browns will win and make the playoffs. If he plays like he did in the six games he appeared in last season, Cleveland will struggle, Stefanski will likely be fired and the organization will be going in a new direction.

Again.

The defense is playing at a high level. And if the offense doesn’t hand the Steelers two touchdowns in week two, Cleveland likely wins that game. And of course, last weekend they were forced to play Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a rookie fifth round draft pick, as Watson was injured.

Aaron Rodgers told Green Bay Packers fans to relax a few years ago. Browns supporters need to heed that advice. They are still 13 games left to play. If the brown and orange stop turning the ball over, they will be just fine.

Cavs Start Camp. Did They Address What They Needed?

Training camp has started for the Cleveland Cavaliers and they will open their season in less than three weeks.

The Cavs finished 51-31 last season, good for 4th place in the Eastern Conference, but were eliminated and kind of bludgeoned by the New York Knicks in five games in the first round of the playoffs, their first appearance in the post-season since 2017-18.

Cleveland needed more outside shooting and more size and to our eyes they addressed one of those needs. They ranked 24th in the league in three-point attempts and were 12th in shooting percentage on those shots.

In the free agent market, they signed two players who can help in that regard, Max Strus and Georges Niang.

Strus is a career 37.1% shooter from distance but did drop from 41% in 2021-22 to 35% last season. Niang is a 40.3% three-point maker during his seven-year career in the NBA, and has knocked down that percentage in each of the last five seasons.

On the size issue, we still have questions. Strus is the likely starter at small forward, meaning the Cavs will again likely be smaller than their opponents at point guard, #2 guard and small forward.

And Strus is not regarded as a good defender, and that’s where Cleveland has hung their hat on under coach J. B. Bickerstaff.

In today’s NBA, guys who are 6’5″ like Strus are guards more often than not.

Niang is 6’7″ and can play both forward spots, so we really think he can make an impact, especially when he is playing the #3 spot.

Up front, Koby Altman added 6’11” free agent Damian Jones, who was with the Lakers and Jazz last season, but played just 41 games. In fact, he has only played more than 50 games in a season twice, ’21-’22 with Sacramento and in ’19-’20 with the Hawks.

Can he be the primary back up for Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley? That’s a major question.

Altman added his usual veteran big man before camp started, bringing in old friend Tristan Thompson, who played just 30 games in the NBA last season. He’s 6’9″ and was a solid interior defender and rebounder, but he’s not a rim protector.

Hopefully, Thompson can be more than the leader/mentor than the guys Altman brought in the past two seasons in Ed Davis and Robin Lopez, neither of whom could be on the court for meaningful minutes.

We also thought the Cavs’ bench was very short last season, not in size, but in capable players. Caris LeVert is back and will assume the sixth man role, but moving Isaac Okoro to the bench along with Niang and (fingers crossed), Jones, should make Cleveland deeper.

We hope Ty Jerome can be a useful combo guard, but he’s another player who has never appeared in more than 50 games in an NBA season. He has some size (6’5″) and can shoot and pass.

So for us, the Cavs still need to be bigger physically. They should be helped by the maturation of Evan Mobley and to a lesser extent, Darius Garland. We would like to see Mobley move up to be an 18 PPG/10 RPG/2 blocks player, and be more consistent from outside on his shot.

And he doesn’t need to make threes, having a reliable 15 foot jumper would suffice.

Let’s face it, if the Cavs don’t draw the Knicks in the first round, they probably get to the second round. It was that bad of a match up.

Still, we need to see further progress from the Cavs, both on the floor and on the bench, meaning Bickerstaff, this season. That would seem to insure another home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

No Chubb, No Watson, No Offense, No Surprise?

When the Cleveland Browns lost Nick Chubb a couple of weeks ago, we said Deshaun Watson had to take more of the offensive burden for the team.

With Watson out last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the offense was without both of their foundations, and the result was a 28-3 loss at home to their division rivals, dropping them to 2-2 on the season.

When GM Andrew Berry traded Josh Dobbs to Arizona before the regular season started, it left the Browns without an experienced back up. It was a gamble, and one that many people would have made, but it came back to bite them against the Ravens.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a rookie fifth-round draft pick, and he played like a…rookie fifth round draft pick, hitting 19 of 36 passes for just 121 yards.

The rook hit a couple of throws early, and then started missing targets resulting in an interception which set the Ravens up for their first touchdown. And with Cleveland in Baltimore territory, tried an ill-advised lateral that went out of bounds and was ruled an illegal forward pass.

We would have considered going to P.J. Walker in the second half had the score remained 14-3 after the second quarter. Someone who has played in the NFL before.

The Kevin Stefanski play calling critics are out again and strangely they only come out when the Browns lose. Weird how that works out, isn’t it?

Here’s what we think happened. The Ravens, knowing Cleveland was starting a QB who hadn’t completed a pass in an NFL game, loaded the box to shut down the run. Stefanski saw this and tried to give Thompson-Robinson some easy throw to keep him out of third and long situations.

The coach tried to do the same thing when Baker Mayfield was at the helm. He doesn’t want to be in third and long. By the way, do you know any coaches who like to be in that situation?

Besides the first offensive play, a 25-yard run by Jerome Ford canceled because of a dubious holding call on Amari Cooper, the Browns couldn’t run the ball before Pierre Strong Jr. ripped off a decent run in garbage time.

Ford had 9 carries for 26 yards, gaining 10 on one carry. Kareem Hunt? Five carries for 12 yards.

And we are pretty sure the coach didn’t tell Elijah Moore to run 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage on a jet sweep.

Perhaps the offensive line isn’t as good as advertised. The Browns have played two games without Chubb and have had trouble running in both games. And you know what happens if you can’t run the ball and stop the run.

You don’t win.

The defense sprung a leak for one quarter in the loss, allowing Baltimore to gain 206 of their 296 yards in the second quarter, resulting in two touchdowns. The good news? They adjusted in the second half, allowing just 42 yards after halftime.

They are entitled to have a bad quarter every once in a while.

If Watson is healthy enough to play the rest of the season, this is just a blip on the radar.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t things the coaching staff and front office need to figure out. Should they bring in another quarterback? The offensive line has to get better.

The defense is just fine though.

Another tough test comes after the bye week when San Francisco comes to town. If Watson is back, it will serve as a measuring stick to see how good this Browns team is.

We remain optimistic.

Guardians Need To Score More, Getting Proven Hitters Would Help.

We have started to read various things about what the Cleveland Guardians do for next season. We believe the front office has their ideas of how to get the Guards back in the playoffs next year, and make no mistake, that should be the goal.

This is not a rebuilding season. The Guardians won 92 games a year ago with the youngest roster in the sport. Next year will mark 76 seasons since the franchise has won a world title, and the team’s best player will enter the campaign at 31-years-old.

Offensively, Cleveland has to improve greatly. They rank 27th in all of baseball in runs scored, and that is simply not good enough. To us, barring trades, they have five players who should be fixtures in the lineup: Bo Naylor, Josh Naylor, Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Andres Gimenez.

So, four spots are open and at least two of them have to be filled by solid hitters. And it cannot be guys who they “hope” can be contributors at the plate, they need proven sticks.

And that’s the challenge for the front office.

It would seem Kyle Manzardo, who came over from Tampa at the trade deadline for Aaron Civale, will come to spring training with a job to lose. He hit .256 at Columbus (936 OPS) after coming to the organization, but overall hit .237/.337/464/802 at AAA in 2023.

Manzardo is highly regarded, but cannot be included as a “for sure” in 2024. If he struggles mightily in the spring, we would anticipate he will open the year in the minors.

Nor should anyone whose AAA numbers include OPS under 750 be counted on to be big league regulars. Johnathan Rodriguez had a very good season at the AA and AAA levels this year, hitting .286/.368/.529/897, but has a lot of swing and miss in his game, with 163 whiffs against 59 walks.

Jhonkensy Noel is another who we hear about because he hit 27 home runs and the Guardians need power. However, he hit .220/.303/.420/723 at Columbus. He might hit 20 homers at the big league level if given a chance. He will also make a lot of outs.

What about George Valera, who has been part of the organization’s top prospects for a while now? He hit .211/.343/.375/718 this season.

By contrast, here’s what Bo Naylor did in Columbus before being called up: .254/.393/.498/890.

It is difficult to imagine players doing better in the majors initially than they did in the high minors. We aren’t saying it’s impossible, but…

You also can’t (and the organization won’t) count on young players like Juan Brito and Chase DeLauter, both of whom we have high hopes for.

Brito, a 21-year-old switch-hitter, batted .271/.377/.434/811 across three levels in the minors this season, but he’s had only 20 plate appearances at AAA to date.

DeLauter, last season’s first round pick, is a left-handed hitter, and he only has 28 plate appearances at the AA level. He shows signs of having an elite hit tool, going .355/.417/.528/945 this year in the minors.

Both of these players might be able to contribute at the end of next year, but certainly not at the beginning of the season.

So, the front office is going to have to look for gems in other organizations or free agents who might be interested in one or two year deals. A few years ago, we saw D.J. LeMahieu available after Christmas and suggested Cleveland take a look at him. He posted a 893 OPS that season with the Yankees.

The point is there might be a bargain out there after the initial push, that is, of course assuming the Guardians won’t be spending big cash.

It won’t be easy for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff. It shouldn’t be. But the “wishing and hoping” method shouldn’t be an option either.

No matter what, they have to figure out how to score more runs.

Thank You, Terry Francona

Terry Francona managed his last home game as the Guardians/Indians’ skipper last night and what a fun 11 years it has been. Six post-season berths, one American League pennant, and currently sitting at 920 regular season victories.

He is respected by pretty much everyone he comes in contact with, and unfortunately this 2023 Guardians didn’t have a better finish to the season.

We remember being very surprised that he would take the Cleveland position after winning two World Series in Boston, but thrilled we were getting a winner.

We are sure there are some who is glad he is leaving, and even Francona himself has said maybe the next guy will be better. As former Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove once said, two things everybody thinks they can do better than everyone else are cooking a steak and managing a baseball team.

We have said Francona is not infallible, he made mistakes, just like every other manager. He gave some players too much of the benefit of the doubt, and sometimes that patience lapsed into stubbornness. But many times, the skipper was right, and the player he waited on started producing.

He’s what they call a “baseball lifer”, he spent his whole life in the sport, and we’ve all seen the picture in the dugout at the Father/Son Day in Cleveland in the early 60’s. He grew up in the game. And with his dad playing here and him managing here for 11 years, he’s a Cleveland guy.

That alone should be cause for celebration.

And for all the talk that he loves veterans, let’s not forget during his tenure here, he broke in Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Steven Kwan, and really Josh Naylor too. And his first pitching staff here featured Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Danny Salazar, and a very young Corey Kluber.

He had Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, and Trevor Bauer on the World Series team of 2016, and brought along Shane Bieber to be the latest ace, with perhaps Tanner Bibee getting ready to take his place.

He’s done a pretty good job with young players too, and always has if you look at his time in Philadelphia (Scott Rolen and Bobby Abreu) and Boston (Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis).

Let’s also remember how masterful Francona was in the 2016 post-season, when he guided the Indians to the ultimate game despite losing Carrasco and Salazar for pretty much the entire playoffs.

He and Joe Torre changed how bullpens were used in the postseason, and now all managers use that strategy come October.

And think about the relationships with his players. When the Pirates were in town earlier this season, Carlos Santana ran over to the Guardians’ dugout after the top of the first inning to give Francona a hug.

We are sure there are a few players who don’t like Francona, but they are few and far between.

We are sad about his departure because it marks the end of an era in Cleveland baseball. It has been noted that the only two teams with better records since Francona has been at the helm are the Yankees and Dodgers. Let that sink in a bit.

Say what you will, but that’s a pretty good run.

We would like to say thank you for 11 great seasons of baseball. In an interview given last week, Francona sounds like he still would like to be part of the organization going forward, and that sound right.

Since he was a little kid, he seems like he’s been one of ours.

Impressive Statement After A Tough Loss For Browns

After Nick Chubb’s injury against the Steelers, we said the offense needed Deshaun Watson to step up.

He did just that in Sunday’s 27-3 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Watson completed 27 of 33 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns in his best performance wearing brown and orange.

Cleveland’s usual vaunted running attack, which averaged over 200 yards per game after two weeks, was held in check by the Titans, gaining just 78 yards. So, the offense needed Watson to throw the football effectively, and he did just that.

Amari Cooper had a big game too, catching seven balls for over 100 yards and a TD, and Donovan Peoples-Jones emerged again after not being a factor against Pittsburgh, catching the game’s first pass and grabbing three throws for 49 yards.

We would still like to see the Browns use TE David Njoku more, because we believe he might be the most explosive player on offense now that Chubb is out. He did have four receptions, but for just 20 yards.

As good of a game as Watson had, this game was still about the defense, which held Tennessee to under 100 yards on the game, 2 of 12 on third down conversions, and Derrick Henry had just 20 yards on 11 carries.

Jim Schwartz’ unit also sacked Ryan Tannehill five times, with Myles Garrett garnering 3.5, to give him undisputed first place on the franchise’s all-time list with 79, passing Bill Glass’ total of 77.5. Glass did it in 94 games, Garrett beat him with seven games to spare.

The only thing that pauses us from saying this defense is elite is the quality of the opponents they’ve played already.

Yes, Cincinnati has a prolific offense, but the conditions in the season opener weren’t conducive to moving the ball at will. And Pittsburgh and Tennessee don’t have great attacks either, or don’t have great quarterbacks.

Still, the defense is playing at a very high level and are constantly attacking, quite a change from past years when they sat in zone coverage most of the time and the pass rush was solely predicated on Garrett getting it done.

Right now, opponents are averaging just 163.67 yards per game. By contrast, the Browns are RUNNING for 160.67 yards per contest.

The defense seems to have calmed the gambling tendencies of coach Kevin Stefanski, who now takes field goals more often. When you aren’t allowing many points, getting three when you have the opportunity is the correct and safe play.

We also don’t want to jinx new kicker Dustin Hopkins, but the veteran has knocked seven of his eight field goal attempts through the uprights, and they look beautiful as they head near the goalposts, not like the knuckleballs the former kicker seemed to boot.

So, through three weeks of the season, the Browns have two wins of more than 20 points. The last time this happened was in 2014 (team went 7-9 under Mike Pettine) when they beat Pittsburgh 31-10 and Cincinnati 24-3.

And they’ve won both of those games despite losing the turnover battle in each.

That’s not as long as we thought, but it’s still 9 years.

Another divisional game awaits next week when the Ravens come to town and right now, the AFC North has three teams tied at 2-1. Lamar Jackson will present another challenge for Schwartz and this defense.

One thing the defense hasn’t done a lot of yet is turn the ball over, with just two takeaways on the season. If that starts to happen, let’s just say, look out.